It is indeed sad to read accounts of the callous attitude of many towards the old folks these days. They obviously do not think that one day they too will grow old, and may also suffer the same humiliation and despair that faces many of our senior citizens today. You may well ask what brought this on, and I will tell you.

Old and Cold! - Should This Be?

I was somewhat dismayed to read in the english news of the past week, that an estimated 180 pensioners died of cold in their own homes every day during last winter. They died because they could not afford to heat their homes sufficiently to stay alive.

Britain had a harsh winter last year and it will by no means be that last, for with global warming upsetting weather patterns around the world, it is more likely to increase. Does this mean then that as soon as you become an old age pensioner you will not last out the winter?

Winter 2010-2011

Throughout the period a total of 25,700 people died because of the cold weather, an estimated 85% of whom were over sixty-five. Apart from the weather extremes, the constantly rising price of energy and a low income are making many families, and in particular the old, choose between putting food on the table or keeping warm. This should not be happening in the 21st century!

Thank God For Someone Who Cares

We all trumpet the virtues of our ‘Caring Society’ and our Welfare State, but people are still dying needlessly of something as basic as cold! No other European country has such a winter mortality rate due to the inability to keep warm, even though it is often much colder than in the UK.

Part of the problem is also that very many old people live in houses built by the Victorians, which have little or no insulation measures installed. Britain has been very slow to act on this important issue, which will cost us dear in the years to come as more weather changes take effect.

Home Alone?

I am sure most of these poor old people have children, but such is the self-centred attitude of many these days, that they can’t be bothered to do anything to alleviate the suffering of the ones who brought them into the world so long ago.

Winter is Coming

It seems few these days feel any obligation to look after the old folks, except perhaps for volunteer organizations dedicated to the task and professional carers, in fact many see them as an embarrassment which is even more disgusting. So if you have elderly parents who are living on the poverty line, take some time out to visit them, invite them over for Christmas and at least make them feel that somebody cares.

Make sure they are warm and fed this winter and don’t become a statistic, even if the cost comes out of your own pocket, for it may well be your turn at some time in the future.

In a country that has seen enormous economic growth in the last decade, has nuclear weapons and a space programme, its hard to imagine that 41.6% of its people are reliant on foreign aid to keep them alive.

India´s Economy – Set for 8.5% Growth Per Year

Since 2000, the economic wealth of India has grown to the extent that it is now the ninth largest economy in the world, and fourth largest in terms of purchasing power, and yet many of its children are starving to death.

India first tested a nuclear bomb in 1974 and now has an arsenal of such weapons. Year on year the government is spending billions of dollars to develop, aircraft, aircraft carriers and submarines as a means to deliver them, and yet many of its children are dying of hunger.

Space Programme – More Important Than Children´s Lives?

The country also has an expensive space programme which has put up several satellites, the first being Aryabhata, launched in 1975 aboard a Russian rocket, and yet the children of India are starving to death.

With hardship so widespread in India, some 41.6% of the population are living below the poverty line according to 2005 figures, it is hard to imagine that the country can afford the extravagance of nuclear weapons and a space programme, but such is the mind of governments!

Looking For Scraps

Ever since India joined the free-market economies of the world, it has seen a massive increase in the middle class sector, due for the most part to the country embracing modern technology and providing services to other countries. The destitute have however been left far behind in this growth, for India has more starving people than the whole of Africa. Recent estimates put the number of people below the poverty line in Africa at 410 million, while in India the figure is 645 million. The latest population estimates indicate India has in excess of 1.2 billion inhabitants which makes it the second largest country after China in terms of inhabitants.

Ever since 1947 when India was given independence by the British Parliament, our government, among others, has been pumping aid money into the country to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds every year. The present government under David Cameron has elected to continue paying £280 million a year until 2015 into the coffers of the Indian government in New Delhi. India has one of the largest food aid programmes in the world.

Ultimately Responsible?

What is now under discussion, is what happens to that money?

This is where the ancient beast corruption raises its head once again. Not surprisingly, it is not only the low level workers that are stealing aid intended for the poorest families, but many government officials who are supposed to oversee distribution.

Desperate For Food

Rations Packs intended for the most needy children are being systematically hi-jacked on route and sold on the black market as, believe it or not, animal feed. In the meantime, the poor, for whom this aid means life or death, are dying from malnutrition to the tune of two million a year. Some 61 million children (48%) in India suffer from stunted growth due to malnutrition.

A Mother and Dying Child

I really have no idea if this is the Indian governments macabre idea of population control, or if it is just plain greed and corruption, but I hope it’s the latter. Whichever way you look at it, many people are getting obscenely rich over the corpses of the country’s young. Also, it seems to me we are doing nothing more than footing the bill for their nuclear and space programmes, for the one thing that seems to be missing is a sense of priorities.

Not that more proof is needed to convince anyone with an iota of intelligence that the education system in Britain has let down an entire generation of our young people, but……..

No Hope?

Once again employers are slating the levels of literacy, numeracy and reading skills of our 1.02 million unemployed youth. The general consensus among employers is that our young people are unemployable in today’s market. No great surprises there!

Gerwyn Davies of the CIPD – The Report’s Author

A new report by Gerwyn Davies, of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) points not only to the education shortfalls in young people today, but also their lack of communication skills, general tardiness, laziness, and poor time-keeping.

A Labour Legacy

Much criticism has been labelled at companies who employ migrant workers over British ones, but the report lays out in no uncertain terms the reasons for this. While more than 50% of the 1000 employers questioned complained of poor literacy, 42% stated that numeracy skills were far below the levels required and 40% said British applicants lacked communication and customer skills. For this reason, most companies preferred to hire foreign nationals who not only had all these skills in abundance, but were diligent, punctual and enthusiastic in their work. In fact all the things our own youth are not!

Currently, only 12% of employers plan to hire school-leavers, and no more than 25% would consider a teenager for employment. That however does not mean the jobs are not there because they are.

Another Job Oppotunity

In many areas employers are struggling to fill vacancies but the only people applying are foreigners. These are mainly High Street jobs, but let’s face it, they are jobs. Many examples were quoted in the article, in particular a spanish restaurant chain where in one establishment there are 25 workers, but only one Briton. Another restaurant, this time in Croyden, has 26 staff with only 7 Brits. An outdoor clothing store store has 15 staff with only 5 locals.

This picture is duplicated across the country for one reason only; British youth is not applying for these jobs. Many see working on the High Street as below them, especially if they have a degree, failing to realise that any job is better than none. Others consider the salary rates for such jobs as too low because they can make more money on benefits. Obviously self esteem does not play much of role in today’s world.

What Does the Future Hold For Me?

Up to a point, I can understand the sheer frustration felt by many of today’s youth, for to have no goal in life is hard. Every young person needs direction, and the prospect of being able to improve their lives, but that too is missing. Sadly, that is the fault of uncaring parents who have not properly prepared their offspring for life after school. Many young people have, in their eyes, studied hard to get qualifications, only to find that they are of little use because of the previous Labour governments disgraceful devaluing of them.

The CIPD also pointed out the difficulty in finding professional people like doctors, engineers and accountants. According to the report’s author, the reason for this debacle is “the legacy of the last Government, which failed to invest in skills’ and instead plugged the gap with foreign workers. Labour that was sought in the middle of the last decade from countries such as Poland was seen as a useful stopgap to filling the skills shortage at a time when the economy was doing really well.” He added: “The problem was hidden to a large degree. Now unemployment is at a much higher level and many of the migrant workers are still here”.

Welfare to Work?

There are of course many avenues to help solve this crisis in Britain, and the governments welfare-to-work scheme is seen as the most promising by the CIPD. On this subject Gerwyn Davies said: “I think that the key to improving the situation lies with the work programme. It is about giving them a helping hand, giving them professional, specialist advice that involves coaching and searching for work. It is this support that has been relatively lacking in recent decades that could be the difference between us improving the prospects of young people over the next couple of years or so”.

A long term solution can only be achieved by getting rid of the many teachers who are not up to scratch, and beefing up the system to overcome the disgraceful shortfalls in education that our children suffer today. I have on many occasions highlighted what needs to be done in these areas and will therefore not go into detail here. It is sufficient that I refer you to a couple of earlier posts on the subject:

For those interested there are more but the story is basically the same, our education system needs a major overhaul if we are to have skilled people in future generations. Currently the government is in my view on the wrong track by diversifying the system even more with its ‘free schools’. Instead, it should be concentrating on a standard curriculum for the entire country, a system that worked well in the past. It is wrong for the government to ‘fine tune’ the curriculum to pander to immigrants as Labour did, for if these people live in our country, they live by our rules and learn our language.
Nuff said!!!!!

Britain’s Prince Philip is well-known for being outspoken, a fact that has occasionally got him into hot water, but sometimes he ‘hits the nail on the head’, like today.

The subject of his latest remarks are the ever-growing number of wind turbines that litter our green and pleasant land and coastline, and are supposed to give us ‘green energy’, and thereby combat global warming.

It would seem someone overheard his private remarks to Esbjorn Wilmar, managing director of Infinergy, a company that produces wind turbines, and they found their way into the press. No surprise there because nothing is sacred to the press, least of all a person’s privacy. In this particular case however, he seems to have voiced what many people believe.

The Greens - Delusional

He reportedly said that “wind turbines were ‘absolutely useless’, completely reliant on subsidies and that those who claimed they were one of the most cost-effective forms of renewable energy believed in ‘fairytales”. I guess that should put a dent in the side of the ‘Greens’ caravan and he is not the first to ’tilt at windmills’ for Don Quixote got there first.

I have to admit, from my point of view he has ‘hit the nail right on the head’, for I too do not believe all the hype that comes from the Green Party. They have for a long time been promoting wind power as a means to satisfy our lust for energy, while at the same time reducing the harmful effects of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.

Is it Us - or Is It Normal?

Their arguments have long been fueled by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) who have for years been maintaining that our current climatic changes are the end result of us pumping too much CO2 into our atmosphere. A stance they now seem to be retreating from, saying no-one knows if the climate will get warmer or colder due to normal climate variations. The link between carbon emissions and global warming is now increasingly being challenged by eminent scientists day by day.

Do We Really Want This For Our Coastline?

It cannot be denied that for the last decade at least, while the CO2 levels have steadily risen, the temperatures have not. Based on the earlier scientific ‘evidence’ in particular, western countries all adopted extremely expensive measures to reduce emissions, but the new evidence suggests it has all been for nothing.

Based on the IPCC’s past ‘evidence’, the government also threw its weight behind the scheme with rash promises of bringing carbon emissions down to 80% of 1990 levels by 2050. A move no doubt made to impress the hell out of the rest of the world, without a clear logical plan of how it will be done, and more importantly, its cost.

Would You Really Like Our Countryside To Look Like This?

Britain currently has 3,421 wind turbines in operation with a further 4,500 planned in the next few years. It is true what Prince Philip said about subsidies also. The investment cost is massive, for this plan is estimated to cost £404 billion, or £760 for every household for the next forty years. Wind energy is more expensive to produce than normal power and the public must each pay £90 a year as part of the subsidy. Anyone who goes for ‘renewable energy’ in their home pays far more than those receiving ‘normal’ power.

The problem is wind turbines are extremely expensive to build and maintain, and are not very efficient despite what the pundits will have you think. Not only can you not generate electricity when there is no wind, but when the wind blows too hard they have to be shut down to prevent damage. In many inland areas, the turbines have had to be shut down because of the noise they make. Local residents have complained they cannot sleep at night, and some even have to wear ear defenders in their own garden due to the constant noise.

Future Coastal Wind Farms Proposal

Wind farms at sea are astronomically expensive to place and maintain, and the costs, in my view, far outweigh the benefits.

Also, when they are not operational, which is often, their output must be subsidised by gas-fired power stations which defeat the purpose of the wind turbines by pumping more CO2 into the air. There are those in our society who believe wind power will replace huge numbers of power stations, well, I am here to tell them they are wrong.

A government advisor on the subject has calculated that “even if 10 per cent of the country were to be covered with wind turbines, they would still generate only one-sixth of the nation’s energy needs”. That is something the Green Party would never admit to!

A new government proposal to reform the current system of doctors handing out sick notes for long and short-term illness is on the cards, and it’s well overdue. For decades people have been able to go to their local GP and obtain the necessary piece of paper that allows them to take time off work and still get paid, either by their employer or the government.

There is Evidence Enough

While many sick notes are legitimate, there are millions that are nothing more than an excuse for the work-shy to lounge around and live off benefits. This has to stop, and the government is looking at ways to curb this criminality. For it is criminal when a person lives off the back of the tax payer when capable of doing a job of work and paying taxes. But such is the decline in moral standards these days, that many people are always looking for something for nothing, while fully capable of going out and earning it for themselves.

Doctors’ Dilemma

Many family doctors find it hard to keep up with the ever-increasing flow of patients in their surgeries, and most I’m sure just sign a sick note without a proper examination these days. It is therefore difficult to lay the blame at their door.

It is a medical fact that many incapacitating illnesses are difficult to diagnose, or in fact disprove, like certain back-pain for example. Wily work dodgers know this and are adept at working the system.

Dept. For Works and Pensions

According to information released by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), around 140 million work days a year are lost to sickness, which is costing a massive £15 billion in lost economic output in the UK annually. The bill for short term illness has to be paid by the employer, but those with long-term sickness must be supported by the state. The DWP figures indicate that the cost to employers comes out at around £9 billion, while the state pays out a massive £130 billion annually in sickness benefits.

Now, as I have previously said, many claims are legitimate, for we cannot all be healthy all the time, but the government hopes to employ a method that will hopefully cut back on those who ‘milk’ the system.

The proposal is that a local GP will only be allowed to issue sick notes for a period not exceeding four weeks, after that the claimant can be made to attend an independent panel of doctors by his/her employer to certify their illness. If you are genuinely sick you should have nothing to fear, but those ‘trying it on’ will hopefully have a tougher time. To me, this seems an excellent idea, considering some 300,000 people a year drop out of work to live on benefits long-term.

Many people may require some months ‘on the sick’ after perhaps a car or work-related accident, and the honest ones will be back at work as soon as they are fit enough. They deserve applause, but for the scroungers it is nothing more than an excuse to get out of working for a living. With luck the new system will ‘winkle out’ these parasites and get them back to being productive members of society once again.

Disability Need Not Stop You Working

Some people are getting benefits because they are permanently incapacitated in one way or another, but that does not preclude them from doing some form of work that suits their affliction. Just because a person is in a wheelchair does not stop them from working. There are many jobs suited to such people, and they should be integrated back into society and given the opportunity to contribute.

I am glad to see an administration with the balls to tackle this problem that has festered unchecked under the previous Labour government. It is way past time!

After a year of bumbling, Ken Clark the Justice Secretary, has at last got his priorities right and is doing something useful for a change. It seems he is finally taking positive steps to stop the endless court appeals of people who are due for deportation from the UK.

Ever since the European Human Rights Act (EHRA) came into force in 1998, anyone who is rejected the ‘Right of Abode’ in Britain for criminal or others reasons has had the legal right to appeal a deportation order time after time. This has meant that they could stay in the country at tax payers expense for years while their endless appeals are heard.

Danga and Girlfriend - How Can She Have Two Children With a Twice Convicted Rapist?

The stories of callous criminals who have used this Act are endless. William Danga, a Congolese convicted of raping two young girls (one aged four) was released in 2006 after serving just half of a ten year sentence. He was ordered to be deported but claimed he ‘lost’ his passport which prevented it. He then jumped on the ‘appeal train’ and used the well-tried ‘Article 8’ (Right to Family Life) of the EHRA because he had children with his english girlfriend. He has since been arrested and convicted on fresh rape charges, and sentenced to fifteen years after which authorities will try once again to deport him.

Ibrahim - A Callous Killer

Just two months ago, Nigerian rapist Akindoyin Akinshipe also used the same defence and beat his deportation order. Some time ago I reported on Aso Mohammed Ibrahim, an Iraqi Kurd with a long criminal history, who sidestepped deportation after he ran over a 12 year-old girl with his car and left her to die in the road. He too used the Article 8 ‘right to family life’ defence.

In fact a total of 200 immigrant criminals have won the right of abode in the UK using the infamous Act, which to me is a shocking state of affairs. The whole sordid affair is an outrage to common decency and an insult to the good people of any nation.

Open To Misuse

Now it seems our judiciary are moving towards a UK Bill of Rights that could replace the Human Rights Act if the Conservatives have their way, however, it is reported that Nick Clegg of the Liberal Party is saying the EHRA must stay and is opposed to the idea. If that is true, then I have one thing to say to Mr. Clegg: “Sir! You are a disgrace” (and I am being very kind and very polite!!!!!!).

Ken Clark said the new laws would put an end to the situation where “everybody who’s just lost his arguments about deportation should be able to go there and get in the queue, wait a few years to get it all re-heard again when he’s lost the argument three times already”.

Council of Europe - Member Countries

It is Britain’s turn to hold the chairmanship of the Council of Europe, which oversees the court, and this began earlier this month. Mr Clarke said: “A lot of member states have been pushing for similar things, and a lot of them believe a British chairmanship is the best time to deliver it, and they think we’re the best hope of drawing this to a conclusion. The term human rights, it gets misused. There is a tendency in this country for the words human rights to get thrown about as much as health and safety. Both of them get hopelessly misused.” Well, I have to say you got that right Ken!

He says the agreement with the European Court of Human Rights could be agreed as early as April next year at a conference to be held in London. Personally, I think tomorrow would be better!!!!

Like this:

It seems some people never want to give up as evidence shows many of the Dale Farm travellers are returning to occupy the site from which they were evicted. Such stupidity is hard to fathom after they had been removed from the illegal site by Basildon Council bailiffs a month ago.

The Dale Farm Site

We have already had a ten year legal battle to get rid of these people who were occupying green belt land illegally. Their complaint is they have ‘nowhere else to go’ and to that I say bullshit!!!! Most are Irish travellers and there is always one place they can go – back to Ireland and lets see if the Irish justice system is as forgiving as the English one. According to reports, many own large expensive houses so I fail to see how they can uphold such an argument.

Sky Report and interview with Miss Goody Two-Shoes:

These people are in effect a contradiction, for they call themselves ‘travellers’ but have been living on the Dale Farm site illegally for more than ten years. Unless my understanding of the english language has decreased with age, I always thought the word ‘traveller’ meant someone who moves around from place to place. If these people wish to settle down they can apply for housing like anyone else, but the trouble is, if they do that they will have to begin paying taxes like the rest of us. Oops! Their only reason for calling themselves ‘travellers’ is to dodge the taxman.

They were in fact offered alternative housing by the council but turned it down, but still ‘they have nowhere else to go’! It is time these people realised that if they wish to live in this world, they must live up to their responsibilities like the rest of us.

Council Hands Out Injunctions

Britain today is no place for a nomadic life style because the country has changed drastically in the last fifty years. Our population has more than doubled, for the most part due to the steady influx of immigrants (thanks Tony), and towns and cities are stretching their boundaries ever wider to accommodate everyone. It is becoming an ever increasing struggle to maintain areas of green in our land, and that is why such things as ‘Green Belt’ land exists.

Gone forever are all the places where travellers could ‘pull over’ for a few days like in times gone by. There are legal sites they could go to, but they are not interested, for some reason it must be Dale Farm. Well, they have been threatened with prison if they try to stay on the site again, and that is the right place for them!

Roy.

Share this:

Like this:

Roy Peters

Welcome to News, Views and Nonsense.

Hi, and welcome!
I can hardly believe this blog is now more than five years old, for it seems like only yesterday when I took my first hesitant steps. A lot has happened in that time, and I must say it has been a great pleasure to write about, and discuss with visitors all the momentous happenings around the world.
Whether you are a frequent visitor, or someone who just dropped by, I hope you will come back, for you are always welcome.

Now that I am a 'Gentleman of Leisure' I have time to indulge in my hobby of writing short stories. I do it for my own pleasure and not for accolades. Although I recently had offers to publish some of them, I found the cost of publication far too much and unfortunately had to decline.
PLEASE NOTE: The stories have now been removed from my blog and published on Amazon for Kindle readers.
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ARE ON KINDLE ARE: No Time For Mourning - A day in the life of Battle Of Britain Squadron.
Flight of the Rusty Bucket - A bomber crew take on a dangerous raid over Germany.
The Will To Survive - The desperate struggle for survival on a contaminated Earth in 2050.
Rescue Mission. A sequel to The Will To Survive. Our hero, along with two companions, undertakes a dangerous rescue mission.
Escape from the Taliban - An SAS team are captured and must escape a vicious Taliban leader.
The Sinking of the Rodney Star - The desperate days of WW2 Atlantic convoys.
Deadly Duel - The massacre of American troops in the Ardenne
Strike By Night - Commando raid just after D-Day 1944
Code-name Falcon - A WW2 French resistance story
Hell's Valley - The continuing battle against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Lifeboat - The crew of a sunken WW2 convoy vessel fight to survive the merciless Atlantic ocean.
A Refugee's Story - The desperate journey of hope for a Somalian refugee.
Secret of the Golden Sphinx - Murder and intrigue in Ancient Egypt.
Alien City - Two young people stumble upon a secret alien city.
They cost only $0.99 or equivalent so feel free to browse on the Kindle Store webpage.
Roy.

We see all over the world fighting going on and it will not stop. When I was young the world was at peace, except for the Russians and they did not do anything except make threats. The world was a peace in the sixties, but today the world has moved on and war is everywhere. […]

The whole world is going crazy and it is the people that are to blame. When will we become sane in this world and look after each other. There are millions of people who are starving to death and the countries do nothing about it. In Africa there are thousands of people who are dying […]

Everywhere except Europe is in a mess! Once the world was a peaceful place, and today it is a controversy of war and demonstrations. There are battles going over the whole world and we must put a stop to it. In South America there are demonstrations in most countries and they are not giving up. […]

Why are so many people bent on killing other people? In England the situation is getting worse as more murders are carried out. Why? Years ago Britain lived in peace and there were hardly any murders, and those that were caught were hanged. We have to get back to this. Most of the murderers are […]

Wars are happening all through Africa, Syria and the Far East and it is mostly to do with terrorists. How are going to stop them? The United Nations should step in and end it all so that the world can return to peace. But they do nothing about it except discuss the terrorists. During the […]

All over the world the temperatures are getting hotter, and the there seems no end to it. In Europe the weather is climbing, and it will rise in August. When winter comes there will be cold and snow everywhere and the we will be up to our eyeballs in snow. The weather is changing and […]

This world is getting worse by the minute, and we see whole countries in turmoil. The people are protesting against the government for their rights. Such is the world today, country after country riot against the government, but they do not care about the people. They pass laws that have nothing to do with the people […]

Its getting hotter and hotter this year and it won’t end until winter comes, and who knows what the winter will bring. In the Middle East its well over forty degrees, and we can expect close to forty degrees in Europe this August. All over the world it is getting hotter and the weather is […]

What is happening with Brexit? We are groping towards a showdown with the European Union and we do not seem to be getting any closer. Theresa May should be putting a hard fist down on Brexit but she is not doing that. We have to call an E.U. Council meeting and discuss the plans for […]

The whole world is in turmoil at the moment, and it has been that for years. When is the world going to be at peace? It does not seem likely for the future unless we go to war in which the whole world will be destroyed. When the war is over then there will be […]

Why is there is there violence all over the world? In every country it’s crazy, for all countries have attacks on humans and there is no stopping it. The police do their best to stop the violence but they are not having enough clout. In most countries there is attacks against the police and innocent […]